Tying machine



B. H. BUNN TYING MACHINE Oct. 31, 1944.

Filed Dec. 26, 1941 '7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 31, 1944. B. H. BUNN 2,361,742

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um'rso STATES PATENT jorrica Benjamin H. Bunn Chicago, lll., assigner to B. lihni Company, Chicago, lll., a corporation of I l l i Application ecember 26, 1941, Serial No. 424,388

1s claims. (ci. 10o-s1) My invention relates to machines which wrap` products of an automatic or semi-automatic inaandlknot twine about packages and the/like. chine as they are discharged therefrom. This More especially it concerns a type of tying mausually necessitates a high-package-per-hour cachine known in the art as a needle arm tying pacity of the tying machine to keep up with the machine, that is. a tying machine in which the arm 5 production rate of the packages to be tied. The which lays or wraps the twine does not pass machine of my present invention is calculated to around the package as in the instance of a crank accommodate that production even though thex type wrapping arm, but instead has more of a retying machine operator is relatively unskilled.l

ciprocating motion. l Among the objects and features of my present The needle arm tying machine exemplified by tying machine are the following:

my Patent 2,274,526, issued February 24, 1942, A more positive holding of the package to be normally positions a vertical terminal reach lof tied during the wrapping and tying operations;

twine extending upwardly from the table so that Easy, quick and simple adjustment of a packa package -to be tied may be pushed against the age hold-down which permits the accommodation reach to deflect it and thereby form a bight in l5 of packages of various heights;

the reach partially surrounding the package, the Guarding the operators fingers against injury twinearm, which supports the upper end of the by the hold-down and'other mechanisms ,of the reach then descending, clearing the package, to machine, without interfering with the movement complete the encirclement of the package, whereof packages to and through the tying machine upon the two ends of the reach are secured toin rapid succession or even, if desired, in juxtagether as by a knotting mechanism. .The term posed contact;

needle arm derives from the analogy to the re- A safety release preventing injury to the packciprocating vertical movement of a sewing maage or to the machine in case a package or other chine needle, obstruction is inadvertently positioned in the An outstanding advantage of the needle arm path of the needle arm when it moves down; type of tying machineand an advantage which Operator fatigue reduction by light pressures I seek to retain in my present inventionis that on manually engaged control elements which are the movement of the package about to be tied in- DOSiiOned 1'01' natural and easy engagement; to its twine reach deecting position for the ini- An easier operating clutch release for the matial partial encirclement of the package, as above chine which makes for a more accuratev critical described, may be employed topush away from alignment 0f Cam-Operated parts; and

the wrapping zone the preceding package which An improved path or orbit for the needle arm has just been tied. This is possible in part beand 0f the mechanism fOr effecting the path. cause, with the needle arm machine, the twine The foregoing together with further objects,

need not be carried completely around the packfeatures and advantages of my invention are set age by the twine arm as is the case with a crank forth in the following description and accomtype of twine arm, such as shown in my patents, panying drawings of a specific embodiment Nos. 1,606,290 of November 9, 1926 and 1,994,453 thereof.

of March 19, 1935. In the drawings, of ywhich there are seven The tying machine of my present invention is sheets: adapted to place single wraps of twine about Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of a needle packages, and securing the ends of the wraps arm tying machine embodying the present in together in rapid succession. The successive vention, a portion of the front frame thereof packages do not necessarily have to be of unibeing broken away, together with a portion of form height, width or1ength, but this tying ma- 45 a @am and cam shaft, and a portion rof a clutch chine of my present invention will accommodate hub portion being shown sectionally;

successive packages of widely varying dimen- Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section on sions. Packages to be tied may include a wide the offset planes of the broken line 2--2 of Fig. 1 field of types of varieties of boxes or cartons with with the needle arm in raised position, the solid or without paper wrappings, stacks of flat artilines indicating the position of the twine and cles, such as envelopes or knock-down cardboard package hold-down means prior to the insertion. cartons, bundles of elongated articles, or wrapped of a package for wrapping, and the dotted lines or unwrapped rolls. indicating the positions assumed by such parts The tying machine of my invention is well after the insertion ofapackage; w adapted forl the reception and immediate tying of Fig. -3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the package inserted and the needle arm in its lowermost position assumed in completing a wrap of twine about the package, the knotting mechanism being omitted for the purpose of`simpllcity;

Fig. 4 is-a plan view of the machine illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the offset planes of the broken line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, showing the needle arm operating mechanism in downward position, and the needle arm in broken," or safety released position, assumed after striking an improperly positioned package in the machine, the normal downward position of the needle arm being indicatedin dotted lines;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the plane of the line 1-1 of Fig. 1 with the parts in their normal, or inter-cycle positions;

Fig. 8 is a. fragmentary horizontal section taken on the plane of the line 8-8 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the plane of the line 9-9 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the plane of the line Ill-I0 of Fig. 5.

The illustrated embodiment of my invention incorporates numerous features illustrated and described in detail in my Patent No. 1,606,290, issued November 9, 1926. For the purpose of simplifying the present specification, therefore, the reader is referred to said patent for an understanding of such features.

These features include the driving motor 2|, a speed reducing drive connection between the motor and a clutch shaft 22, which in the disclosure of the patent is by means of a gear and pinion, but in the present illustrated structure is by means of V-pulleys 23 and 24, and a V-belt 25. A spring-pressed clutch 26 is provided for releasable driving engagement with the clutch shaft 22, and is provided with a clutch-operating yoked lever 21 and a clutch release link 28.

A pinion 29 is keyed to the clutch shaft 22 and is in constant meshed engagement with a mutilated gear 30. The mutilated gear and the mechanism operated thereby is somewhat different from that illustrated and described in the abovef referred-to patent, No. 1,606,290, and will be described in detail later herein.

The knotting mechanism, indicated by the numeral 33, is similar to that of the patent, and includes a grooved, twine-pressing lever 34, for holding the twine against the bottom of a package during a knotting operation. There are provided also in thepresent embodiment, a pivoted and rotatable knotting beak 35, and a twine slide 36 to carry the reach of twine extending along the front face of a package being wrapped, to a point to the rear of the knotter beak so that the knotter beak can engage both reaches of the twine to perform the knotting operation. A spring-pressed, button-type, twine catcher 31 also is provided of the type described in my abovementioned Patent No. 1,606,290.

Referring now tothe drawings of the present case in detail, a frame 38 comprises front and rear frame members provided with cast iron frame plates 39 and 40, respectively, the front and rear frames being connected together as by tie 'rods 43 (see Fig. 1).

The frame is provided with a table-top member 44 of sheet metal having a portion 45 thereof extending forwardly therefrom .and curved downward slightly to facilitate placing a package 4l @'n-the table as illustrated in Fig. 2 and sliding the package rearwardly to the dotted line positionof Fig. 2, in which position the tying operation is performed. The extension 45 is supported by a bracket 46 secured at its lower end to the frame.

The table-top member 44 has an elongated notch 41 extending rearwardly from its forward edge, and is slitted transversely from the notch as at 48. The portion of the table-top rearwardly from said slit is bent downward slightly toward the slit, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, to form a recess having a substantially vertical forward wall which is adapted to engage the lower front corner of a package inserted in the machine for wrapping, to preventthe package from being drawn forwardly by the tension on the twine during a tying operation.

The portion of the table-top to the right of the notch, see Fig. 4, preferably is materially shorter than that to the left of the notch, to permit a tying arm or needle arm 49 to clear the forward edge of this portion of the table to the right of the notch during the downward swing of the needle arm. A vertical side plate 50-extends uD- wardly from the right-hand edge of the tabletop, as best illustrated in "Figs, l and 4, and is mounted on angle brackets 53 secured to the frame.

Since each succeeding package may be used to push the preceding one rearwardly out of tying position, I illustrate a roller conveyor 5I mounted on the rear of the table, whereby the Wrapped packages, as they are pushed oithe table, are conveyed by this, or succeeding conveyors to a desired destination without the necessity of further manual operations.

Returning now to the clutch shaft 22 it will be noted that the pinion 29 is keyed to the clutch shaft 22 and is in meshed engagement with the mutilated gear 30. The left hand portion of the mutilated gear, as illustrated in Fig. 1, is continuously toothed throughout its periphery, and

the pinion 29 is of a Width to engage only this continuously toothed left hand portion of the mutilated gear.

The right hand portion of the mutilated gear has the teeth thereof removed throughout two portions of its periphery as at 54 and 55 in Figs. 1 and 7. Laterally adjacent to each of these untoothed portions of the mutilated gear is an arcuate ange 58 and 59, respectively, adapted to receive rollers 56 which are pivotally mounted upon laterally projecting studs on a needle arm drive gear 51 to prevent this needle arm drive gear from turning when the gear is over one of the mutilated or untoothed portions of the mutilated gear.

Four of the rollers 56 are provided on the needle arm drive gear as illustrated in Figs. 5, 6 and '1, these rollers being arranged in oppositely disposed pairs, and arranged to ride on the flanges 58 and 59 in sequence during the rotation of the mutilated gear during a wrapping operation. The needle arm drive gear 51 has two of its teeth cut away as at 60 and 6I on diametrically opposite sides thereof, and adjacent to each of these cut away portions in the direction of rotation of this gear are a pair of double toothed abutments` 64 and 65 to receive the starting impact when this needle arm drive gear is engaged by the toothed portions on the mutilated side of the mutilated gear 30.

nen of the toothed mom-.or 'the nomme gear has a number oi' teeth corresponding to the tth ofthe hal! oi' thefneedle arm drive gear l1 which it is adaptedto engage. eo that during a complete rotation of the mutilated gear.

which constitutes one complete operating cyclel of the wrapping mechanism (since the cam block the same shaft as' the mutilated gear) therewill be produced two half rotations of the needleby an intermediate ann drive gear l1, separated rest. or dwell A chain drive sprocket 88 to thev needle arm drive gear l1 to rotate therewith. and is connected by means of a drive chain Il to a. similar driven sprocket 08 rotatably mounted on a stub shaft 1I in the frame. The driven Il mounted on the frame.

Each of the gears 88 and 1I has astud, 15 and 18, respectively, mounted to project laterally therefrom. A needle arm support member 11 is pivoted on the stud 15, and has a socket therein in which is secured the needle arm 48 which extends forwardly ior a suilicient distance to clear the front edge of the right hand portion of the table-top 44, and there is-bent at right angles to extend horizontally to the left as illustrated in Fig. 1, terminating in the same vertical fore and aft plane as the twine catcher 81. The free end of the needle arm is provided with a twine opening 18 through which the twine 80 is adapted to pass during the operation of the machine.

On the opposite side of the stud 15 from the needle arm 49 the support 1l is flat, as best illustrated in Figs. l, 5 and 6, and is pivotally connected, by means oi a stud 83 to a ilat breakaway portion 84. The rear end of the needle arm support 11 has an upwardly directed notch 85 therein, the edges of which are beveled and formed into a more or less circular seat as best illustrated in Figs. 6, 8 and 9, whereby the two parts of the needle arm support are adapted to be secured releasably together.

A cap screw 86 is threaded into the breakaway portion 84 of the needle arm, as illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10, and is secured in position therein by means of a lock nut 81 threaded onto the projecting threaded end of the cap screw A collar tt is mounted for slidable-movement on the stem of the cap screw 86; and a coil spring 88 is held in compression between the collar and the head of the cap screw. The lower iace oi the collar 88 is rounded in cross section to provide a cam action between the rounded lower face of this collar and the beveled edges of the notch 85, so that when the two portions ofV the needle arm support are swung into alignment, that is, the position illustrated in Fig. 5, the co1- lar 88 will be cammed upwardly by the actionof the bevelled edge of the notch and thereby will permit the collar to seat in the notch, where it is retained by the pressure of the compression spring 89.

A slotted opening S0 is provided in the breakaway portion 84 lof the needle arm support to receive the stud 1B carried by the gear 10, which stud is positioned diametrically opposite from the position ofthe stud on the ilrst gear 89.' The slot 80 is oi.' a length to permit free slidable moveaaeifua- -ment of theatud 1l a complete of the intermeehed sears i8 y nu-mr the met han of the rotation of the 'IIA which determines this cycle is mounted on orale ot rotation and 1l.

needle arm drive gear 81,. induced by the action on it` of the teeth of the initial fully toothed portion o! the mutilated gear 38, the intermeshed `gears Il and 10 are rotated one half revolution each, and the outer endofthe needle arm describes the first halt of the ilattened kidney shaped path indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5,

` which constitutes its cycle oi operation.

In other words, this first half of the cycle carries the needle arm from the solid line position illustrated in Fig. 2, through the dotted line path illustrated in Fig. 3 to the position of Fig. 3. In this latter position the arm dwells during the knottlng and twine severing operations.4 These operations include the raising of the lowermost reach of twine against the bottom of the package by means of the grooved twine pressing lever Il, the moving of the strand oi twine lying along the iront face of the package rearwardly by means of the slide ,to the right of the knotting beak, and the performing of the knottlng operation as described in my above-mentioned patent. The completion of the knottlng operation is followed by the severing of the twine, and

the withdrawing of the twine from the twine catcher.

At the completion of the knotting and severing operations. the needle arm drive gear 51 is engaged by the second fully toothed portion of the mutilated gear l0, and is rotated through its second half-cycle. This restores the meshed gears 89 and 10 to their normal or initial positions illustrated in Fig. 5, and carries the twine arm through its second half-cyclel indicated by the rear or left-hand half of the kidney-shaped dotted-line path indicated in Fig. 5.

It will be noted that while traversing the lower end oi' its cycle the horizontal portion of the needle arm is carried from the forward side of the twine catcher 31, below the twine catcher, and thence upwardly on the rear side of the twine catcher so as to hook the reach of twine around the twine catcher during this phase of the operation. 'I'his desirable feature ofwoperation is accomplished by the pivotal arrangement of the twine arm support on the stud 15 combined with the action of the stud 16 in the slot 90.

During the initial quarter of the cycle of the gear 69, the stud 1-5 iirst carries the needle arm to the right from the position of Fig. 5 and bodily downward, and to the left and bodily downward during its second 90 of rotation. Simultaneously, and throughout the combined initial of rotation of the gear 69, the stud 1B on the intermeshed gear 10 is traveling upward to its topmost position. This action tilts the needle arm clockwise about its pivotal mounting on the stud 15 and carries the forward end of the needle arm downwardly to the lowermost dotted-line position.

During the second half of the cycle, the mountlng stud 'I5 is moved bodily rearwardly and u-pwardly by the action of the gear '68 during the iirst 90 thereof. and bodily forwardly and upwardly during the nal 90 of this second half of the cycle. Simultaneously the downward movement of the stud in the slot 90 pivotally tilts the needle arm in a counterclockwise direction relatively to the pivotal stud 15, and thereby returns it to its Istarting position, shown in Fig. 5.

In case the needle arm should strike an obstruction during its downward travel, such as the improperly positioned package illustrated in Fig. 6, the additional stress imposed by this obstruction against the downward movement of the arm would overcome the resilient frictional engagement of the collar 88 in the beveled seat of the notch 85.- This would free the needle arm support 11 for rotation about the stud 83 as a pivot, and thus would permit the arm to break to the position illustrated in Fig. 6. The mechanism would complete its cycle of voperation with the arm in this broken or released condition. At the completion of such a cycle the needle arm and its extension 84 would again be snapped into their normal aligned positions, the package properly positioned, and a new wrapping cycle initiated.

Operating synchronously with the package wrapping and tying mechanism, is a package hold-down mechanism which is operated by means of a cam-track 92 in the side of the mutilated gear 30. While similar in some respects to the package hold-'down arrangement of my patent, No. 1,606,290, this present hold-down mechanism has important distinguishing features which are described' in the following paragraphs. The cam-track 92 is illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, which, together with Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, illustrate the structure and features of the holddown mechanism.

A cam-operated lever 93 is keyed to a shaft 94, which is journaled in the frame at one side of the mutilated gear 30, the outer end of the lever 93 being providedwith a cam roller 95 adapted to ride in the cam-track 92. A second lever 96 also is keyed to the shaft 94, spaced axially from the first lever 93, and between these two spaced, but keyed together, levers, a third lever 91 is journaled for free pivotal movement on the shaft 94.

The third or pivoted lever 91 is provided with a laterally projecting stud 98 which passes through and beyond an opening in a vertically extending link 99, the outer projecting end of the stud 98 resting upon a projection |00 of the second lever in the normal, or at-rest, position of the machine, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 5. A coil spring |03 interconnects the ends of the second and third levers 96 and 91 and is held in tension therebetween.

In the normal, or at-rest, position of the machine, the stud 93 is supported upon the arm |00 of the second lever,96, and the tension on the coil spring |03 is released or at a minimum due to the fact that the first lever 93 is in its maximum counterclockwise or upraised position, as illustrated in Fig. 5, thereby raising the vertical link 99 to its maximum elevation.

When the machine is operated, the rst lever 93 initially is moved pivotally in a clockwise direction from the position of Fig. 5 by the action of the cam-track on the roller 95, moving this lever to the position illustrated in Fig. 6. Since the second or outer lever 96 also is keyed to the same shaft as the first lever 93, this second lever likewise is moved in a clockwise direction to the position illustrated in Fig. 6. Thismovement releases the stud 98 from its supported position on the projection of the second lever 96, while at the same time it increases the tension on the coil spring |03, thereby drawing the third or intermediate lever 91 in a clockwise direction urging the link 99 downwardly.

The upper end of the link 99 is secured pivotally, as by a stud |04, to a coupling link which has pivotal connection, as at |06 and |01, to two parallel arms |08 and |09. These two arms are pivoted at their right-hand ends, as illustrated in Fig. 1, to the frame as at ||0 and ||3, while theouter or free ends of these arms are connected pivotally, as by studs ||4 and ||5 (see Figs. 1 and 2) to a vertically disposed mounting strip ||6. An angle bracket ||1 is provided with a pair of slotted openings ||8 and ||9 therein, and is secured adjustably, as by means of cap screws |20 and |23, passing through these slotted openings, to the mounting strip ||6. The lower end of the bracket |1 is bent at right angles to the upper portion thereof, and is secured, as by cap screws |24 and |25, to a package hold-down plate |26.

A safety guard assembly |21 is carried by the hold-down plate |26 and comprises an arm |28 of band steel, which is pivoted to the package hold-down plate at the rear end thereof, and extends forwardly to a point well ahead of the holddown plate |26. A short arm |29 is pivoted coaxially with the long arm |28, on the opposite side of the hold-down plate, and is connected to the long arm by a tie strip |30 at the front end of the short arm |29. The tie strip acts to brace the long arm and limits its downward pivotal movement by engaging the top of the hold-down plate.

A guard plate |33 is pivotally mounted, as at |34, near the forward end of the arm |28, the lower edge of this guard plate being curved upwardly toward its forward end, as illustrated in Fig. 2, to provide a cam surface which will act to raise the safety guard member upwardly to the dotted-line position illustrated in Fig. 2, when a package is pushed rearwardly into position for tying, namely, from the solid-line'to the dotted-line position of the package illustrated in Fig. 2.

A shorter auxiliary guard plate |35 is secured, as by a cross tie member |36, to the guard plate |33, and, together with the guard plate |33, prevents the operator fromvgetting his fingers bey neath the hold-down plate |26 during a packagewrapping operation of the machine.

An inertia type clutch release is provided for safe manual operation of the clutch release mechanism, and is mounted conveniently for operation by a flick of the right hand of the operator when withdrawing his right hand after positioning a package in the machine. This arrangement has a dual advantage in that (a) no lost motions are involved in the operation of the machine, and (b) it insures at the same time that the right arm of the operator will be withdrawn safely from the zone of operation of the horizontal portion of the needle arm 49 before initiating a wrapping and tying operation of the machine.

The clutch release comprises an operating lever |31 having a horizontally bent portion |38 adjacent the forward edge of the right-hand side of the table top 44. This lever is mounted in a socket |39 of a sleeve |40, which in turn is journaled on a stud |43 mounted on the frame. The clutch release lever |31, as illustrated, is provided with an upwardly curved offset |44 to clear the cam-shaft |45 during a down swing of the lever |31. The sleeve is provided with an arm |46 to which is connected pivotally the slip link 28, which, in its normal position, is interposed between a cam-actuated lever |5I, which is pivoted on a stud |52 on the frame, see Figs. 1, 2 and 8, and the clutch-actuating yoked lever 21.

'I'he cam-actuated lever |5| has an offset portion which is adapted to engage a cam bar |41 on the side o! the cam block and, when the clutch release lever is in normal or unoperated position, to force the slip link 20 outwardly against lthe clutch-actuating lever 21, thereby moving the clutch to released position. The slip link 29 may be withdrawn from its position between the lever and the lever 21 upon counterclockwise movement of the sleeve |40 from the position illustrated in Fig. 2, to free the clutch control lever 21 for movement toward the cam block.

Release of the clutch control lever 21 permits the compression coil spring 3| in the clutch hub (see Fig. 2l to move the clutch to engaged position, and thereby causes a complete rotation of the cam block 65 in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2. Upon completion oi a rotation oi.' the cam block, the cam bar |41 again will engage the cam-actuated lever 5| and.l force it away from the cam block. The slip link upon such completion of the rotation of the cam block will have returned to its normal position, illustrated in Fig. 8, under the combined action of a coil spring |40, held in tension between the socket |39 and the frame, and a counterweight |49 'which is threaded on to a stud |50 secured to the sleeve. The slip link is forced by the action of the cam lever |5| toward the clutch-operating member 21, thereby moving the clutch to releasing position to completeA a cycle of operation.

It will be noted by reference to Fig. 8 that a movement of the slip link 28 toward the right will have no interference from the clutch-operating member 21 or the cam lever |5| except the rolling friction oi' the roller carried by the member 21, and the sliding friction of the cam lever.

ance is negligible, and is substantially less than that encountered with previously known arrangements. In the structure of my prior patent where the clutch release mechanism was operated by foot power, this objection was not serious, but in the present development it is an important consideration, since the release is intended for operation by a light ilick of the operators hand.

An important additional advantage of the present invention lies in the mounting of the cam le- 'ver i 5| on the fixed pivot |52, since where, as

in prior constructions, the cam lever is mounted to be bodily withdrawn from between the cam on the cam block and the clutch-operating member, there is a possibility that the cam lever will not aiways return to its same position after each operation.

The combined weights of the lever |31 and the counterweight |49 comprise a mass, the inertia of which, after a slight initial impact by the hand of an operator, carries the clutch release lever well downwardly to insure proper operation of the clutch upon each actuation of the lever. Adjustment of the weight on the threaded stud |50, together with an adjustable stop screw |6| mounted in a bracket |62 on the frame, permits the starting position and inertia of the lever to be adjusted to meet the requirements of an individual operator.

Even the most unskilled operator soon becomes very deft in inserting a package, holding it in proper position with the left hand positioned against the safety guard plate |33, and then withdrawing the right arm and simultaneously flicking the operating lever down to clutch-releasing position, thereby initiating the wrapping and tying cycle of the machine.

The machine may be adapted readily for the With these parts lubricated properly such resistwrapping of different sizes of packages by adjusting the package hold-down bracket ||1 upwardly or downwardly with respect to the mounting strip ||8. This is accomplished by loosening the'two cap screws ||9 and |20 which secure the bracket to the mounting strip, and, after such adjustment is completed. again tightening these cap screws.

A twine container |53 is mounted within the lower portion of the frame, as illustrated in Fig. 1, and is adapted to receive a supply of the twine 80. A twine guide opening is provided as in the motor support bracket |55 through which the twine is passed, and then is led through a springcontrolled twine tensioning device |58, which is similar generally to that disclosed in my above set forth patent.

From the twine tensioner the twine passes upwardly and through a guide opening in an extension |51 of the side plate supporting bracket 53. From this point the twine is led through the opening 19 in the outer end of the needle arm, from which point it passes to the twine catcher 31, where it is held in position by the spring action of the twine catcher.

The general operation of the machine is as follows: In the initial or normal condition of the machine, the clutch is disengaged, the arm 49 is in the elevated position shown in Figs. 2, 5 and 7. The terminal length 80 of the twine extends from the twine catcher 31 to the outer end of the needle arm 49. A package 4| is inserted from the full line to the dotted line position in Fig. 2. This raises the guards |33 and |35 to their dot and dash position in Fig. 2. The terminal length of the twine 80 moves from this full line position to its dot and dash line position in Fig. 2, the terminal length 80 being increased from the supply. 'I'he hold-down plate |28 is above the package 4|, the gear 30 being in the position oi Fig. 5. One pair of the rollers 55 rides upon the ilange 58 as shown in Fig. 7. The operator having located the package as shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 2 then actuates the clutch control lever |31 so that the gear 30 is now driven. During the rst quarter revolution of the gear 30 the arm lever 93 is moved down so that the hold-down plate is brought into engagement with the top of the package 4|. After the package is thus engaged the rollers 56 have cleared the flange 58 and the gears 69 and 10 are driven half a revolution. The arm 49 is thereby moved downwardly into the position shown in Fig. 3. This completes the wrap of the twine around the package. The hold-down plate and the arm 49 remain stationary while the twine is knotted. After the knotting of the twine the lever 93 is moved upwardly againby the cam track 92, thus elevating the hold-down plate away from the package, leaving it free for removal. Thereafter, the other pair of wheels 56 have ridden over the flange 59 and clear the flange so that the gears 69 and 10 are driven another half revolution. This brings the new terminal end of the twine, which is held by the twine catcher 31 into original position shown in Fig. 2. After this half revolution of the gears 69 and 10, the first mentioned pair of wheels 55 again engage the ange 58. When the gear 30 has made one revolution the clutch is automatically disengaged.

My present machine is particularly well adapted to the rapid wrapping of standard size packages. where itis desired to have but a single wrap of twine around the package. The rightthrough, side-to-side contact of the packages permitted by the operating features of my machine recommend it particularly to straight-line manhaving a twine feeding opening in an end thereof. needle arm operating means comprising a rotatable member pivotally supporting the needle arm eccentrically to the axis of rotation of the rotatable member to move the pivot of the needle arm bodily in a circular path on rotation of the rotatable member, and tilting means connected to the needle arm to tilt the twine feeding end of the needle arm in its direction of bodily movement by the rotatable member on each of two opposite sides of a predetermined diameter of the path of rotation of the rotatable member.

2. In a package tying machine having a frame, and a twine catcher mounted on the frame; a `rotatable member mounted on the frame, a needle arm connected to the rotatable member eccentrically to its axis of pivotal movement, the needle arm having a twine feeding openingY in an end thereof, a second rotatable member connected for rotation synchronously with first said rotatable member, means in eccentric relation to said second rotatable member pivotally connecting the second rotatable member to the needle arm, the connections between the needle arm being co-related so that when one connection is down, the other connection is up and vice versa to produce a combined rotating and tilting movement of the twine feeding end of the needle arm to carry said end of the needle arm around the twine catcher.

3. In a package tying machine having a frame, a twine catcher on the frame, and a package support on the frame; a pair of intermeshed similar gears pivotally mounted on the machine, pivotal mounting means eccentrically carried by each gear, a needle arm pivoted on the pivotal mounting means on one gear for bodily movement in a circular path, an end of the needle arm having a twine feeding opening therein, and means interconnecting the other end of the needle arm and the pivotal mounting means of the second gear to tilt the needle arm about its pivotal axis on each of two sides of a diameter of thegear pivotally supporting the needle arm substantially perpendicularly to-a line interconnecting the axes of the intermeshed gears, to move the twine feeding end of the needle arm in a flattened vertical orbit adjacent an end of the package support, for passing the twine feeding end of the needle arm around the twine catcher at one end of the orbit.

4. In a package tying machine, a frame, a twine catcher on the frame, a package support on the frame, a pair of intermeshed gears mounted adjacent to the package support, pivotal mounting means on one gear eccentric to its axis of rotation, second pivotal mounting means on the other gear the two pivotal mounting means and their intermeshing gears being so arranged that the mounting means are substantially a1- ways `on opposite sides of a plane passing through the axes of the gears, a needle arm pivotally mounted on the pivotal mounting means of the rst gear and having slidable connection with that of the second gear, the needlearm having a twine feeding opening in the end thereof remote from said pivotal mounting, the rotation of the gears moving the twine feeding end of the needle arm in a flattened orbit adjacent an end of the package support, for passing the twine feeding end of the needle arm around the twine catcher at one end of the orbit.

5. In a package tying machine,-a frame, a twine catcher supported on the frame, a package support mounted on the frame, a pivotal mounting member mounted for forward and backward cyclical movement relatively to the frame, a needle arm pivotally mounted on the pivotal mounting member to be carried backward and forward therewith, the needle arm having a twine feeding opening in an end thereof, and vertical reciprocating means operated synchronously with the pivotal mounting member and operatively connected to the needle arm to move the twine feeding end of the needle arm in a flattened elongated orbit to pass the twine feeding end of the needle arm around the twine catcher.

6. A package tying machine comprising, in combination with a frame, a twine catcher supported thereon, a package support carried by the frame, and a needle arm having a twine feeding opening in an end thereof to support a reach of twine with a bight thereof about a package on the package-supporting means, the opposite end of the reach of twine being secured in the twine catcher; a pair of intermeshed gearsoperatively connected to the needle arm, one of the gears comprising a pivotal support for the needle arm bodily to move the needle arm in a circular path on a rotation of said gears, and the other of the gears having slidable connection with the other end of the needle arm, to move the first said end of the needle arm havingy the twine feeding opening therein in an elongated substantially vertical path adjacent the package support, to carry the twine feeding end of the needle arm around the twine catcher. l.

Y 7. In a package tying machine, a frame, a twine catcher supported on the frame, a package support mounted on the frame, a pivotal mounting member mounted for forward and backward cyclical movement relatively to the frame, a needle arm actuating member mounted for vertical cyclical movement synchronously with the pivotal mounting member, a needle arm having a twine feeding opening in an end thereof pivotally mounted on the pivotal mounting member, a releasable extension on the needle arm connected to the needle arm with suicient strength to withstand ordinary stresses in the operation of the tying machine, but releasable from the needle arm on the imposition of a stress thereon materially in excess of normal, the extension being connected to the needle arm actuating member to move, in conjunction with the pivotal mounting member, the twine feeding end of the needle arm in a flattened elongated orbit,

the twine feeding end of the needle arm being adapted to pass around the twine catcher.

8. A package tying machine comprising a frame, a twine catcher supported on the frame, a package support mounted on the frame, a pivotal support rotatably mounted on the frame, a needle arm pivotally mounted on the pivotal supaccusa port. the needle arm having a twine feeding opening in an, end thereof, a slotted extension member connected to the needle arm at the op' posite end from the twine feeding opening, a spring catch mounted to retain the arm and the extension in predetermined relative positions, and an operating member slidably mounted in the slot of the extension member, said operating member operating oppositely to the pivoted needle arm support to tilt the twine feeding end of the needle arm toward the direction ci' movement of the pivot to pass the twine feeding end of the needle arm around the twine catcher.

9. In a package tying machine comprising a frame, a twine catcher supported on the frame, a package support mounted on the frame, a

needle arm, means for moving the needle arm down and up in an orbital path adjacent the package support; a combined package hold-down and safety guard comprising a hold-down member mounted .to overlie a package positioned on the package support, means mounted to move the hold-down member down and up ahead of the down and up movements of the needle arm, a safety guard member pivoted to the hold-down member normally to extend materially below the hold-down member and laterally adjacent thereto to contact by gravity the top of a package on the package support, and to remain by gravity in contact with the package during a reciprocating hold-down and release movement of the hold-down member.

10. In a package tying machine comprising a frame, a twine 'catcher supported on the frame, a package supported mounted on the frame, a needle arm, means for moving the needle arm down and up in an orbital path adjacent the package support; a combined package holddown and safety guard comprising a hold-down member operatively connected to move down and up ahead of the down and up movement of the needle arm, a safety guard support arm pivotally connected to the hold-down member, and a guard plate pivotally connected to the support arm and positioned alongside thle hold-down member to extend below the hold-down member, stop means mounted to limit the downward movement of the guard plate under gravity, the lower edge of the guard plate being cam. shaped to cam the guard plate upward over a package inserted into tying position on the package support, the hold-down member being .moved vertically into hold-down relation to the package before an operation of the needle arm.

11. In a package tying machine having a frame, a twine catcher supported on the frame, a package support mounted on the frame, a needle arm, means for moving the needle arm down and up in` an orbital path adjacent the package support; a combined package hold-down and safety guard comprising a hold-down member operatively connected to move down and up before the down and up movements of the needle ar-m, a safety guard support arm pivotally connected to the hold-down member, a guard plate pivotally connected to the support arm and positioned alongside the hold-down member to extend below the hold-down member, a cross tie member secured to the first guard plate and extending across the upper side of the holddown member to limit the downward movement of the guard plate, and a second guard plate mounted on the end of the cross tie member on the opposite side of the hold-down member from the first guard plate.

12. In a package tying machine comprising a frame. a twine catch supported on the frame, a package support mounted on the frame, a needle arm, means for moving the needle arm clown'A fore the, down and up movements of the needle arm, a relatively long safety guard support arm pivotally connected adjacent one end thereof to the hold-down member and a guard plate plvotally connected adjacent the other end of the support arm, and positioned alongside the holddown member normally to extend below the holddown member, a cross tie member secured to the first guard plate and extending across the upper side of the hold-down member to limit the downward movement 0f the guard plate, a second guard plate mounted on the end of the cross tie member on the opposite side of the hold-down member from the first guard plate, a relatively short arm opposite to the long guard plate support arm and mounted co-axially therewith, and a cross tie connecting the end of the short arm to an intermediate portion of the long arm.

13. In a package tying machine comprising a frame, a twine catcher supported on the frame, a package support mounted on the frame, a needle arm, means for moving the needle arm down and up in an orbital path adjacent the package support; a package hold-down, a cam mounted to move the hold-down down and up before the down and up movements of the needle arm, a lever operatively connected to the cam, a second lever keyed to the first, a third lever pivoted adjacent the second lever, a pin projecting laterally from the third lever, a link pivotally connected to the pin and extending upwardly therefrom, said package hold-down being operatively connected to the link, a cam operated member mounted beneath the pin normally holding the pin and its connected link upwardly, a spring interconnecting the cam actuated lever and the pivoted lever, said spring connected cam actuated lever being moved by an operation of the cam to exert spring action on the pivotally mounted lever to urge the Ipivoted lever and its connected link downward thereby to move the package hold-down toward a package holding posit/ion, the pinsupport being removed on an actuation of the cam actuated lever.

14. A package tying machine comprising a frame, a twine catcher supported on the frame,

a package support mounted on the frame, a needle arm, means for moving said needle arm down and up in an orbital path adjacent the package support; and a package hold-down comprising a hold-down member, a pair of parallel arms pivoted at one end of each thereof to said holddown member and at their other ends to the frame, a link pivotally connected to the parallel arms and extending downwardly therefrom, a cam mounted below the parallel arms and operatively connected to sadd link and the needle arm, lever pivotally7 mounted on the frame and having resilient operative connection to the cam, means normally supporting the link and parallel arms and hold-down plate in upward position, the supporting means being carried out o'f supporting position on an operative movement of the cam to increase the tension on the resilient connection to the cam, thereby urging the pivoted lever, the link, the parallel arms, and the hold-down member downward into package holding position, said cam being arranged to move the hold-down member downwardly before the downward movement of the needle arm.

15. The combination of claim 2 wherein the needle arm is made in two parts releasably interconnected to constitute a rigid arm providing a safety break rin the arm, one of said connections being made to one of said parts and the other of said connections to the other of said parts and said saiety break being placed intermediate said connections.

16. A tying machine having a needle arm, means for moving said arm bodily and laterally in opposite directions, independent means for tilting said arm upwardly and downwardly in synchronized relation with its lateral movements whereby one end of said needle arm describes an elongated vertical figure, said needle aum comprising two parts, and releasable means normally holding the two parts rigidly interconnected, the holding means being of a strength to be released by the imposition thereon of stress materially in excess of normal operative stresses to break the needle arm and prevent damage from excess stresses, said means "for eflecting lateral movement and the tilting means being connected t0 separate parts of said needle arm, the holding means being located therebetween.

BENJAMIN H. BUNN. 

